As far as water supply is concerned, Mysore is flirting with danger every year. Every summer, KRS level goes extremely low and many areas of Mysore do not get drinking water for several days at a stretch. People start getting desperate. But just before disaster, it starts raining and we are saved one more time.
But we are getting closer to tragedy every year with increasing population and increasing demand for Kaveri water for drinking, for irrigation and for industrial use. It is just good luck which has protected us till now, but one of these years luck will run out and we will have a major calamity. The water supply will stop. This should not be allowed to happen.
The sad thing is that such a calamity can be prevented or at least greatly mitigated with planning and good management, but the present setup is not geared for either. There are too many agencies, MCC, VVWW, JUSCO, KUWS&DB and Irrigation Department which have an effect on the water supply and there is no coordination between these agencies. They are all guilty of grave irresponsibility and passing the buck and every year they start digging the well only after the house is on fire. This has to stop.
To urge the government to take action on on the problem of recurring water crises, Mysore Grahakara Parishat is holding a protest before Mysore City Corporation building at 3.30 PM on Monday, 20-5-2013. It is demanding short and medium term plans to solve the problem once and for all. Among the short-term plans it is supporting is the rapid implementation of the KUWS&DB proposal to stop pumping water from Devaraya canal (because it is not a reliable source) and instead pump water from the riverbed upstream from Sethikatte. This should be done urgently and at any rate before next summer. As medium term plan, MGP is urging the formation of an expert committee to develop an action plan for the next five years to ensure water supply even under conditions more severe than this year. MGP is also urging the formation of a autonomous body to manage Mysore's water supply (and sewage) and a regulatory commission on the lines of Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission to regulate the water supply body.
Prof. B.S. Shankara, Mysore Grahakara Parishat